I'm reposting this mod, because naraku couldn't kudosu it due to it being too old and I'm a shameless whooooooooore.D33d wrote:
You still can.
I stupidly closed my PM tab, so I can't post a log now. As such, I'll give [Insane] a quick mod with what I considered to be glaring issue during gameplay.
[General]
On second thoughts, I was probably wrong about the tempo. However, because you're using loads of slow 1/4, it feels like you've used extremely close spacing and sliderend stacking solely because it's 1/4 and therefore "comfortable" or "right." That's just the impression that I got. For the softer sections, you could use more angular patterns which are bunched together more, so that the player's cursor doesn't traverse the screen as intensely.
Also, because there's an implied double-time feel and there is clearly a lot of activity in the backing figures, I strongly recommend tick rate 4. It would fit extremely well and having a max score of ~15m would suit the intensity of this song. Moreover, you would be able to use lots of drumticks on those of the 1/2 sliders which are mapped across drum fills, with the ticks adding additional subtle emphasis on top of the snare hits.
I wish that your skin was edible. I can't get over how delicious it looks. Mind if I steal it sometime?
[Insane]
The start feels like you're patterning for the sake of it and the patterning results in some odd-looking overlaps. I suggest following the vocals with sliders, but that's just me. The lyric at 00:12:009 - is much, much stronger than the backing string sample at 00:12:309 - and yet you've even used a soft finish, which would complement the lyric a lot better. Also, 00:13:209 - is overmapped, as are the other sliders which are clearly forcing patterns.
00:13:209 - should at least be hitsounded, but I'd much prefer it if you started the slider where the repeat lands. I think that you should reconsider how you've mapped this section, because I feel that longer sliders would be more appropriate.
00:53:109 (1) - Returning to sliderends--and, for that matter, sliderstarts--like this is never something that I'd recommend for readability reasons. Moreover, Charles is on the warpath for this kind of thing, so be prepared for him to whine about it. Personally, I'm not too bothered, but you could maybe make the end of 00:54:159 (3) - form a pentagon with the circles which follow it.
01:28:809 (5) - While I appreciate the hold effect, this slider feels fairly useless and it confused me a lot. Because of the tight spacing, the distance between the start and repeat is night-identical to the 1/4 spacing after it. I found this deception to be very unfair. Please, see if you can replace it with a slider on the vocal, especially because you were already following the vocals.
01:54:909 (6,7) - Very minor suggestion--perhaps you could smooth out the orbital sliders a bit, then have these stacked inside the sliders? As clichéd as that is, it'd look awesome, create more impact and possibly feel more final. That said, what you have makes plenty of sense with the music.
02:33:759 - Bear my children. Perhaps you could repeat this somewhere else if at all possible, because this would be thrilling to play more than once.
02:36:309 (1,2,3) - I feel like you could emphasise the riff better. These sliders just go TA-ka-TA-ka-TA-ka, but the riff goes TA-ka-da-TA-ka-da. Slider-circle-slider-circle; that sort of thing. Some kind of downwards-pointing pattern could work nicely, if it could be made to flow into the huge arc.
02:41:109 (1,2,3,1,2,3) - "Epic" doesn't have to mean "awkward to read." I don't even think that this pattern's that interesting and the comboing, while fitting, is inconsistent. Please observe the following carefully:
[box=My suggested approach in action]
Here, the 1/2 spacing is notably smaller than the 3/4 spacing, which immediately makes my pattern more readable. Furthermore, the flow and pattern itself are much more dynamic and the fall-and-rise makes a lot of sense with the guitar riff.
Grouping all six circles as one combo will also make the followpoints look fantastic, or maybe that's just me. Still, I love the effect.
02:46:959 (3) - Just to remind you of the sliderend thing.
03:06:159 (3,6) - Um. I noticed this asymmetry at a glance, then confirmed it. Fix this, then move the circles and sliders together, so that a square is formed.
03:24:309 (1,1) - These spinners feel rather fruity and I feel like the map should've ended with the groove. However, if you're gonna insist on having the map's only spinners here, instead of somewhere more satisfying, then hitsound the buggers! Spinners without hitsounds are like waiting forever for a Half-Life 3 announcement, only to find that Valve's released the latest version of 'Left for Bread.'
In conclusion, this map is fantastic, but please consider all of my points with some thought, when you're ready to dig through this map again. It's exactly what the current influx of ranked maps is lacking and would serve as a reminder that structure can still be incredibly fun.[/box]